


To Protect Our Kind

by Tyler_KB



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, All powers are generally the same as original, Angst and Humor, Avengers and other as X-Men basically, Backgrounds are DARK, Brian Banner's A+ Parenting, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Bruce had a very shitty life basically, Commander Ross is going to die hahaha, Everyone has a body count almost, F/F, F/M, Hela is not a villian but like, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kick ass - Freeform, Literally everyone is on the run, M/M, Multi, Odin's A+ Parenting, Past Child Abuse, Peter is adopted by Tony and Stephen, They are mutants born with their powers, This is a lot darker than the tags suggest, Tony brought them together, and who knows, chaotic neutral, go to space, kill me quickly, other characters might just also be a little late to the meeting, represent the mutant race, shes not really good either, so many characters - Freeform, they were just a little late to the party, with a few edits, yeah theres humor but theres also MURDER, you all gonna meet Angie Peggy and Sif soon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-17 00:23:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15449196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tyler_KB/pseuds/Tyler_KB
Summary: The world has never been accepting of mutants. They are hunted and criminalized, shown to be evil and murderers, thrown into mutant facilities and seperated from the rest of society, forced to hide or risk torture.Some mutants had better control or were able to keep their secrets long enough, others were imprisoned as childern without the freedom to see outside the facilities walls.It's how its always been, mutants have tried to revolt but failed or only temporary gained a few more rights, now in days it's almost not worth the risk in some eyes.Until the United Nations introduces a new bill that would force mutants to endure a life even harder than before, which calls for mutant in hiding Tony Stark to send out a secret request.'To any strong mutants willing to fight for our right to live, you will know where to find us.'So beginnings a group that doesn't know how to trust one another, but knows they would do anything to protect who they are and the future of all mutants.





	1. Chapter 1

_~Tony, Peter, and Stephen~_

Tony and Stephen met as teenagers, both still hiding their abilities. They became unlikely friends, trusting each other with everything...except what they could do. Stephen found out about Tony on accident, revealing himself right after. They remained together, trying to stay undercover as normal humans without mutant abilities. They bought an apartment together with money from their parents and tried to get jobs, failing again and again despite being smart in their fields. The two of them saved a nine year old Peter from being taken to the American mutant facility, letting his aunt know he was alive before running out of the city to safety with the government right behind them. The three of them stuck together, becoming an odd little mutant family. Tony built them a large house in the countryside of New York, where they lived peacefully until the new policies were annonced, that's when Tony sent out the request.

_~Clint and Natasha~_

Clint and Natasha were both found out at a young age and sent to their countries mutant facilities, America and Russia respectively. Clint was stuck, but Natasha managed to escape, getting on a plane to America and hoping to never again return to any facility and live peacefully. Though it did not work, as only a few months later she was found by the American government and sent to their facility, where she met Clint. They became friends and trained together, forming a relationship when they were in their early twenties. The two broke out together with a few others and ran acorss three states, living mostly in the woods together before being able to change their appearnces and buy a cheap apartment in a city with money they had stolen over the months. They lived there until getting the request from Tony.

_~Steve, Bucky, and Sam~_

Steve and Bucky knew each other from a very young age, and they were the first to learn of each others abilites. They both were very careful about not showing their abilites, but were found out when they were fifteen. Both were taken and placed in the American facility, where they were separated and not allowed to see one another following their resentment to being taken and close relationship. Steve met Sam and they became friends while Bucky met Natasha and Clint, training with them occasionally. Sam and Steve attempted to find Bucky but were never able to, which caused Steve to murder one of the officals in his rage. Unknown to them, Bucky was doing the same thing nearly daily in his attempts to get to Steve, which caused him severe stress and for his mental health to suffer. The three of them finally saw each other the night they escaped with Natasha, Clint, and a few others. The three of them left and remained together, Steve and Bucky fixing their relationship and adding Sam into the mix after two years. They remained on constant run until getting Tony's request.

_~Thor, Loki, Hela, Heimdall, Brunnhilde, and Bruce~_

Hela, Thor, and Loki are siblings who were partly raised by Heimdall in a family full of mutants. The three siblings were never taken to the facility, but Heimdall had been in one before escaping and meeting the Odinson's. Eight years ago they met Brunnhilde following her own escape, and the four of them left Norway for Canada following their parents murder. They settled in Quebec and tried to live normal lives, now being forced to hide their abilities. They come across Bruce, a mutant who explained he'd been in a facility since he was three and couldn't remember anything about the outside world or the last few weeks, including his escape. He had crossed the border in order to escape the American government, specifically a man Bruce called 'Ross'. They helped hide and protect Bruce, but never learned of his abilities until Ross found them, and that's when they met the Hulk and understood why Ross was so intent on getting Bruce back. They ran farther inland and tried to settle back down, two weeks after leaving they got the request from Tony.

_~Wanda, Pietro, and Victor~_

All three of them had been in a facility since they were very young, and they formed a close bond as they got older. They stuck together as much as possible, training together until Victor began losing more control around age 13, in which he was taken away and put somewhere with tighter security. Pietro tried to control Wanda's reaction, but couldn't as she was still learning to control her own abilities. In her anger, she destoryed half of the facility and killed many of the officals and a few other mutants, but did manage to not only get Victor but also teleport the three of them away from their home country. They ended up in British Columbia, and tried to live peacefully and gain more control. Pietro holds the most control over his abilites, while Wanda and Victor's are still highly connected to their emotions and they both believe they haven't unlocked every thing they can do quite yet. They remained in hiding until Tony's request.

_~T'Challa, Shuri, and Okoye~_

T'Challa and Okoye have known each other their entire lives, both being the childern of mutants. They lived in Wakanda, which was more open to mutants than the rest of the world, and the two of them did not have to hide, neither did Shuri once she was born. When Shrui was about twelve, the UN demanded that Wakanda begin locking up their mutants, as they were one of the only countries to have equal rights for all mutants. They refused, as their king, T'Challa's father, was a mutant himself, same with most of his generals and their queen. In responce, the United Nations began closing in and Wakanda mutants went into hiding in order to escape, including T'Challa, Okoye, and Shuri, who were forced to remain behind the walls of the palace. They stayed there until T'Challa's father told them about Tony's request, and they were asked to go and help protect the mutants of Wakanda and the rest of Africa.

_~Scott and Hope~_

Scott and Hope were childhood friends. Both born inside the American mutant facility to mutant parents, they became friends due to their simular abilities. They had never left the facility until their parents were killed while attempting to escape with other mutants, that's when they began plotting their own escape. The two of them left without the officals realizing until an hour later, but by then they had left the city. Instead of going into secret hiding, they decided to hide in plain sight, going to New York City to hopefully avoid the government, who had began looking for both of them. They were successful in their hiding, and tried to use their abilities as little as possible. The two of them were the last to see Tony's request, but automatically accepted in hope of avenging their parents.

 


	2. Steve Rogers' POV

I don't think I've ever seen so many mutants in one room, nor do I know most of the people in the room. A few look interested, others bored or angry. Next to me, Bucky has no issue showing his displeasure on his face.

"Well, anyone interested in starting?" Tony, the guy that sent out the request in the first place, asks finally, leaning back in his seat. No one raises their hand, some looking around in distrust at the other people in the room. Finally, the muscular blond guy stands, making his two siblings, if I remember correctly at least, groan and look very displeased at their brother.

"We can go first!" He exclaims, happily smiling and motioning his siblings to stand, which they do after a look aimed at one another. The blond man smile grows, "okay! My name is Thor and these are my siblings Hela and Loki! We each have different abilities, which we will now demonstrate."

Bucky had told me about their names once we heard them introduce themselves to Tony, how each one is named after a different Norse God or Goddess, and that their abilties were likely very similar to them, so I had an idea what to expect. 

Granted, that was before I heard the lightning outside and noticed Thor's eyes literally glowing, his entire body sparking with electricity. The lights began flickering, and somewhere in the background a radio begans switching through channels quickly as the lightning outside gets closer, one striking the grass right outside the window, which causes one of the guys in here to literally scream in terror.

Thor stops then, smiling as he bows, and a few people clap. Next, Loki steps up after Hela waves at him, a frown on his face. He doesn't do an introduction, just changes his apperence to look like Thor, then Hela, and finally Bucky, who rasies an eyebrow, before switching back to his normal form. He suddenly points at the wall, shooting a jet of ice out of his hands and freezing Tony's fishtank. That's when the room begins to change quickly; the colors, temperature, time of day, and even us changing before it all stops, nothing out of the ordinary anywhere. He teleports a few feet away, changing his position in the room a few more times before ending back on the couch and looking at the odd guy that lives with Tony, Stephen I think. "Strange, dear, could you get me a drink of water please?" Loki asked, taking a sip of water from a cup in his hands. 

Strange stands but looks confused as to why, walking into the kitchen and filling another glass with water, handing it to Loki before sitting back down, shocked that he actually listened. Loki smirks, winking at all of us.

Hela rolls her eyes, "can anyone get me a rat or squirrel or a past enemy? Really any living being will do." The man that also came with them sighs, teleporting away and coming back with a rat hanging from its tail, he sets it down in a box and sits, not watching as intently as the rest of us are. Hela pulls off her gloves, picking up one of the rats. It immediately begans squealing in pain, its skin and muscles rotting away quickly as we watch in horror as all that remains is bones after only a few seconds. Hela smirks, dropping the skeleton and slowly raising her hand, and we watch as the once rat comes back to life, staring up at Hela and waiting her for her command.

She makes a fist and the rat crumbles, dead once again. She puts her gloves back on, winking at all of us and sitting next to her brothers, who high five her and each other.

Bucky, never one to be out done, stands, bringing me with him as Sam rolls his eyes.

"We shall go next," I start, "I am Steve Rogers, or Captain America, and I have the abilites of superhuman durability, endurance, speed, strength, and healing." I grab one of Bucky's knives, cutting a long line down my arm and allowing it to heal within a few moments.

"My name is James Barnes, or the Winter Soldier, and I have the same abilties as Steve as well as," his arm turns into metal, he shows it to everyone, "plus ice and snow."

I sit down and Bucky makes his move to, but stops himself after Loki snorts. "Ice and snow? What does that even mean?" Loki asks rudely, and Sam groans, whispering 'not again' to himself as Bucky glares.

"I'll show you." Bucky stands once again, arm turning to metal as his hair grows longer, skin getting paler until I recognize his Winter Soldier form. The room gets colder, and I can hear the hail hitting the roof outside, outside the window I can see it starting to snow heavily. Loki's two cups of water freeze and tip over, the ice inside sliding across the floor quickly before smashing into the wall with heavy force. The other glasses of liquid in the room begin to freeze over, including my own. Bucky stops, going back into his normal form, "that's what it means."

Loki smirks, nodding and opening his hand, where another glass of what looks to be wine appears.

Sam sighs, standing and dusting off some invisible dirt like a drama queen. "Sam Wilson or Falcon, superhuman agility and..." he trails off, allowing his metal wings to come out of his back as the other people in the room gasp, Sam rising from the ground and making a quick lap around the room before sitting back down, letting his wings remain out. One hits Bucky in the back of the head, but I know Sam did it on purpose.

Tony stands next, a smirk on his face. "The name is Tony Stark or Iron Man, my abilties are as follows." We watch as his entire body turns into an unknown metal, some of the metallic items around us rising slowly before slamming into the walls, creating holes of varius sizes. He risies from the ground in flight and takes a small lap, landing with a small bow as the younger boy next to him claps loudly. Tony turns back into flesh and bone, smiling and taking another bow before sitting.

The younger boy stands happily, "hi! My name is Peter Parker and my hero name is Spider-Man!" He suddenly shoots a weblike thing from his hands, covering one of the walls with the substance. He runs at one of the other walls, climbing to the top quickly and crawling on the ceiling, happily allowing himself to fall onto the couch, nearly crushing Tony.

We clap, making the teens smile grow even more.

The other younger teen, this one a girl, stands, bringing her brother and the other woman up with her despite their protests. 

"My name is Shuri, this is my brother T'Challa and our friend Okoye, please ask me any possible question possible, including ones about languages those are welcomed as well, and do make them as difficult as possible," she says, pausing and looking around the room.

The man sitting next to Thor rasies his hand, "the chemical formula for Diammonium phosphate?"

Shuri smiles, "(NH4)2HPO4."

Tony almost chokes, but does gain his composure enough to think and ask a question, "how about inventor of the toaster?"

"Alan MacMasters."

"20th vice president of the United States?" I ask this one, first thing that came to mind.

"Chester A. Arthur under President James A. Garfield."

Okoye steps up, cutting off a question from Sam, "this could on forever Shuri, please let us continue." Shuri chuckles but nods.

"I can also create nearly any machine, my mind basically creates an innvention and tells me exactly what I need to do to create it." Shuri sits down, smiling at Peter, who looks absolutely amazed.

Okoye nods, "I have the abilties of agility, endurance, and strength as well as martial arts skills."

T'Challa steps up, "I have the same as Mr. Rogers."

Shuri snores, "show them the rest brother."

T'Challa glares at the ground with a blush, mumbling about hating this. Suddenly a pair of panther ears sprout from his head, a black cat tail from the bottom of his back. We are taken back, I think Peter says something about "oh my god he's a furry" which makes Shuri burst out laughing as T'Challa sits back down with as just grace as he can manage as his younger sister contines to laugh.

The two other people, minus the smaller man who hasn't moved other than asking Shuri the question, that showed up with the Norse siblings step up once she calms down.

The man begins to teleport, creating a portal below him and falling through, coming back through the ceiling and taking a deep breath. Suddenly Loki yelps, and when I look at him I see his eyes are completely yellow and glowing, where as Heimdall's are Loki's green. The two return to normal as the girl snorts.

"And that was Heimdall, he can also see into the future by the way," she cracks her knuckles, taking a sip of her beer bottle, "the name is Brunnhilde or Valkyrie, I have superhuman agility and endurance, plus martial arts and sword fighting skills, as well as," a pair of black and white angel like wings sprout from her back, "these bad boys."

Loki snores as Thor happily claps for his friend, high fiving her in excitement. 

Two people, a man and woman, step up from their corner.

"Hi! I'm just so happy to be here, love you guys, and my name is Scott Lang or Antman, and, well," he suddenly shrinks, getting smaller until we can no longer see him then getting even bigger than normal, being around ten feet tall. He goes back to normal, smiling, "I can also control ants."

The girl rolls her eyes, "my name is Hope van Dyne or Wasp, I can do the same thing as Scott except I have wings." A pair of bug like wings sprout from her back, Scott looks very proud, but also a little jealous.

Natasha is forced to stand by Clint, who looks excited to share his abilties. 

"Hi! My name is Clint Barton AKA Hawkeye, and I got myself some wings." A pair of hawk like wings sprout from his back, he looks at them with pride as he gives them a few flaps, nearly hitting Tony in the eye a few times.

Natasha smiles lightly at him, "my name is Natasha Romanoff also known as Black Widow, and I have superhuman agility as well as the ability to climb walls, shoot webs, manipulate men or women, and I have a poisoness bite that fits the black widow misconseptions."

Clint looks at Natasha as if she hung the sun, sitting down next to her and giving her a high five.

The next to stand are also a boy and girl, siblings if I remember correctly.

"We are Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, or Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch," the boys begins, "I have the ability of superhuman speed." He begins to run, almost too fast for me to keep track of. 

Or at least I thought I could keep track, turns out I was about fifteen feet behind his actual location.

Wanda smiles, but doesn't explain her abilites verbally, instead beginning to teleport around the room, being midair a few of the times I see her. She stops when she's back in her original spot, a red magic surrounding her hands as her eyes begin to glow red as well after a moment. Objects around the room begin to float and move, including the couch Sam, Bucky, and I are sitting on, which moves gracefully through the room, being controlled by Wanda.

We're set down gently, Wanda smiling at us and bowing, everyone claps.

The final three make no move to stand, until Wanda gives a small tap to the man next to her, who has a near silent conversation with her until he sighs and stands.

"My name is Victor Shade though most call me Vision, my abilities include transparency, phasing, superhuman knowledge, flight, and I am able to shoot an energy beam from this dot in my forehead," he points at it, "I have no desire to show these currently though, as I am still learning to control them."

He sits, ignoring Tony trying to convice him to show everyone what he can do.

The final two do not move, Peter and Tony attempt to convince one while Thor and Brunnhilde try to get the other to at least explain his abilties.

Thor and Brunnhilde apparently win, as the man stands with a sigh and a sad look on his face.

After only a moments hesitation, the man transforms into a huge green creature, who is glaring at everyone. "Puny humans rude to Bruce, made him sad," the monster says, sitting down on the couch, which nearly sends Hela and Loki flying across the room.

Thor looks like a kicked puppy when the monster finishes. "Hulk I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt Bruce, can he come back? I want to say sorry to him." Hulk(?) shakes his head.

"No! Bruce doesn't not want to come out, Hulk stay!" Thor sighs, but nods anyways, leaning his head on Hulk's arm.

Brunnhilde stands, "this is Hulk, Bruce's ability, who doesn't currently wish to come back out, but he will soon I swear."

The final man sighs after a few more moments of pestering, "fine Peter, Tony get off me." Tony climbs out of the mans lap, where he had sat to attempt to convince him to show everyone his own abilties.

"Stephen Strange," is all he says before suddenly there is multiple copies of him, upwards of twenty walking around the room. Each one creates a portal, stepping through them as all disappear minus the original, who steps out behind Loki. He looks at one of the vases around the room, another exact copy showing up next to it before they both begin to shake violently, exploding and completely vanishing, as if their very atoms were ripped apart.

He sits, crossing his arms as Peter hugs him and Tony kisses his cheek in thanks.

I look around, "what now?" I ask, hoping someone other than Tony knew what the next step was.

Victor sighs, "it seems we are now a team."

A few people groan, but others smile at one another.

I am in the first category, as are Bucky and Sam, but we make no move to leave.


	3. Thor's POV

After showing everyone our abilities, Tony directed us to our rooms to sleep and relax to prepare for tomorrow. Apparently Tony, Stephen, and Peter have been building this house for a long time, and kept adding more stories and rooms just in case they ever needed to help anyone out.

Bruce and I got a room with a king bed on the third floor, while Brunnhilde and Hela shared one with three twin beds with Okoye, and Loki and Heimdall also got a room with three twin beds and are sharing with Pietro.

Bruce still hasn't come out, so it was very fun trying to fit Hulk not just up the stairs but also through the doorway.

He keeps saying that "Bruce is sad" and "Hulk protect weak Bruce", so I haven't even gotten close to Hulk since we got up to our room, the other ignoring all my attempts at conversation.

"Hulk please let me talk to Bruce, I want to tell him sorry face to face," I try once again, but Hulk just shakes his head, curling up farther into a ball on the floor (thankfully he knows he'll break the bed, as we've been teaching him to be more aware of his strength).

I watch him sadly, wanting my smaller boyfriend to come back so we can cuddle in the bed.

Finally Hulk sighs, and I watch as he transforms back into Bruce, who doesn't look at me, my heart begins to break as I hear him beginning to cry. I don't make the move to go closer, but want to let Bruce know that I'm here when he wants me.

"Just let me know when." It's a little code we came up with for when Bruce doesn't want to be touched but still wants to know I'm here when he's ready.

It takes a few minutes of quiet tears, but Bruce does nod, a silent cue that he wants me to comfort him.

I walk over, picking Bruce up and sitting against the wall, hugging him closely and allowing him to cry into my chest.

"I'm so sorry I forced you to show Hulk, I know you don't like to and I still forced you I-" "it's not that Thor I swear, I'm sorry I refused to come back."

I stop, looking down in shock. "Bruce you don't need to apologize, I'm the one that made a mistake." He shakes his head, laughing a bit, but I can hear the pain behind the chuckles.

"I-I knew some of them, I knew what they did and what they had done to them," he takes a deep breath, "they knew what happened to me, they know what _I've_ done."

I hug him, knowing just how hellish Bruce's years in the facility were.

Some people had better experiences, either their abilities were more understood already or they were just not as interesting as other mutants abilities. Others, like Bruce, had to endure years of 'scientific' tests and experiments, the officials wanted to see just how far they could push until their 'patients' broke.

I don't know much about Bruce's time there was, only basic details of what happened, but I know enough that I would gladly kill every single person that built and run the facility, I knew wanted to burn it to the ground and show them that Bruce or Hulk aren't the scary ones;  _I am_.

"Who did you know?" I ask, as Bruce rarely talked about anyone he met over his years since he isolated from everyone else more often than not, and lost many of the memories of those he did know.

He wipes his eyes, calming down more by the second as he thinks.

"I definitely knew Scott and Hope, and both Sam and Clint looked familiar, though I couldn't really tell you any information on them..." he trails off, visibly running through the people we saw today. "I think knew James and Natasha in later years..." he suddenly smiles, "yeah, definitely knew Natasha, she was kept near me since we were both labeled as dangerous, and James came a little later," his smile fades, "James was considered Class A like me."

My blood goes cold as I remember when Bruce, Brunnhilde, and Heimdall explained the Class systems to Loki, Hela, and I.

Class D is considered least dangerous and least likely to escape, the ones with more freedom who could potentially make it in the real world. They are rarely experimented on because most of them are more understood due to having more common mutant abilities.

Class C, which was Brunnhilde's Class, are considered a risk but not dangerous, and are more easily contained. Most of them could make it in the real world if they tried, but it would be a lot more difficult. Brunnhilde explained that most Class C's are experimented on but not often or severely.

Class B, Heimdall's Class, are considered dangerous and rarely have understood abilities, most of them have to be constantly watched or have a reinforced room. Most can't make it in the real world unless they are very careful and smart. Heimdall said most Class B mutants, since they aren't understood, are experimented on at least twice a month in mostly painful ways.

Class A, Bruce's Class, are considered extremely dangerous and usually have very rare abilities, and all of them are constantly watched and have some kind of reinforced room, most are isolated from other mutants 24/7. Bruce doesn't like talking about being Class A, but Heimdall said it must have been severely painful and traumatic, and that he wonders how Bruce survived so long since his ability is not only incredibly rare, but also dangerous.

He stands up, "I'm going to shower okay? You can go ahead and go to bed without me." He gives me a soft kiss, turning around a stretching a bit to ease his muscule stiffness (as he explained a few months ago) before walking into the connected bathroom. A minute later I hear the water turn off, but I make no move to get up and change, mind still replaying his shirt riding up.

I've never seen Bruce without a shirt or pants, and only recently got to see him without a long-sleeved shirt, which doesn't bother me of course, but it breaks my heart because I know why. From the very small amount of skin I'm able to rarely see, I always notice the scars. His arms have them, same with the bottom of his legs and stomach, some long and puffy from never getting treated and others short but rough. 

I can only assume the rest of his body has them and other injuries from the years he was stuck at the facility, not knowing if he would survive to see the next day. It took months for Bruce to trust me even the slightest; to be able to sleep in the same bed as me, tell me anything about his life, or even just hold my hand, but I never blamed him, I can't imagine I would ever be able to trust anyone if I was in his situation.

Many people may think Bruce is weak, that Hulk is the only strong one and that Bruce would be dead without him. But I know the truth, no one in the world is stronger than my Bruce Banner.

I change my pants into a more comforable pair and take off my shirt, getting under the blankets and wondering just how Tony and Stephen really managed to build this. I think I overheard something about the two of them coming from rich families and that both their parents died when they were younger, so maybe that's it.

Bruce comes out twenty minutes later, still wet and towel drying his hair. He notices me staring at him, and smiles a bit, which I return.

He doesn't say anything, just continues to dry his hair as I watch him.

He finishes soon, dropping the towel on a chair and laying next to me on the bed after shutting off the ceiling lights and plugging in the nightlight we brought just in case. Bruce always sleeps with some kind of light, he says it makes it feel safer, reminds him he's not there anymore, and if it makes him happier, I would gladly find a way to sleep with every single light in the world on.

"Goodnight Thor," he whispers, laying his head on my chest.

I gently kiss his head, "night Bruce, goodnight Hulk."

Bruce laughs, "he says goodnight as well."

Yeah, I would wait a thousand years and light a million lights if it meant I could have this forever.

 


	4. Natasha's POV

"I have been instructed to wake you up for breakfast, Mr. Barton and Ms. Romanoff." My eyes open, and I glare up at the ceiling, wondering just what was talking and telling me to wake up at seven in the morning.

Clint doesn't even stir, cuddling closer to me and continuing to snore loudly.

"Who said that?" I ask, hoping I'm not just hearing things.

"I did," okay so not just hearing things, "my name is JARVIS, and Tony has instructed me to wake you up in order to tell you breakfast is nearly done and to retreat downstairs once decent."

I blink, trying to process the random voice that seems to be coming out of the ceiling.

"Well when some angel tells you to do something, I guess you have to do it," I whisper, unwrapping my arms from around Clint and sneaking out of bed, knowing he'll wake up when he smells the food.

The shower in our room is honestly great, and Tony had enough shampoo to give to nearly every one so I'm able to finally wash my hair.

Clint and I had tried to do odd jobs, but eventually we just gave up and started stealing once again. Eating and rent was more important than being clean, so showers with actually good soap (for months just soap in general) were very rare, and if we decide to stay here, I guess we won't have to worry about that for awhile.

The bathroom door open, I peak out to see Clint brushing his teeth looking like he would fall over asleep at any moment, his wings out and proud (though folded some due to his wingspan) for the first time in months, maybe years.

I smile fondly, closing the shower curtain and finishing my shower quickly in order to go down to eat. Now that I think of it, I'm starving.

"Good morning Clint," I say after shutting off the water, he grunts in responce, loudly yawning. I wrap myself in a towel, walking behind Clint and giving him a small kiss on the cheek.

"Do you think this is a good idea, Nat? We don't even know what Tony's plan is, and I don't know if I trust all these people," he says, walking out of the bathroom to get dressed as I begin to blowdry my hair.

"I don't know, do I trust most of these people? No, but at the same time this could be good, maybe it will help us have a better life," I pause, looking back at him, "but if you really would like to go I would hesitate to follow."

He shakes his head, "no, so far it's okay, I mean, Bucky is here, same with Steve and Sam, and they don't seem that worried, let's just test the waters?"

I smile, nodding in agreement.

We leave the room a few moments later, making our way downstairs and finding mostly everyone sitting around the table or living room, eating eggs and pancakes.

Stephen and Peter are making more food together while Tony talks with Shuri, Bruce, and Wanda at the bar area.

The only ones missing are Loki and Bucky, everyone else seems to be awake and downstairs.

Tony notices us and smiles, walking over after excusing himself from the other three. "Morning guys, just grab a plate and some food and chose a seat anywhere, the pancakes are vegan by the way just in case either of you were wondering, and theres orange juice, apple juice, milk, and water to drink," he tells us, pointing everything out to us.

Clint looks at all the food in excitment, "thanks man, I'm starving."

Tony laughs, "yeah, Stephen figured some of you guys haven't had a good meal in awhile so him and Peter plan to spoil you," he leans a little closer, "I would but I'm banned from the kitchen after nearly burning down the house."

Clint and him laugh as I see Bucky making his way to Steve and Sam, who are talking with Okoye and T'Challa in the corner. He sits down next to Steve, looking rough and tired. Steve whispers something to him, which makes Bucky nod and for Sam to look over, worried.

"Come on Nat, let's get some of this delicious food that Stephen and Peter have so kindly made for us," Clint says, dragging my attention away from the three males.

I nod, following Clint to get our food.

We each get some eggs and pancakes, but while I get water he gets apple juice. We sit on the floor, leaning against the wall.

It's weird to see so many mutants in one place, being comfortable with showing their abilties so openly.

Sam, Hope, and Brunnhilde all have their wings out, Tony is showing Shuri his metal skin as she studies it and asks questions one after another, Scott shows Peter how he changes sizes to make the teen laugh as Scott changes his voice to match each size, Wanda lets Bruce watch her moving their plates and cups, accidentally spilling some of the water on the bar, and Thor is making some lightning sparks for Hope, who looks interested in them as she talks with him and Heimdall.

"It's nice, feeling so free." I hum in agreement, taking a sip of my water, which tastes cleaner than any water I've ever had before.

Somewhere music is playing, but I don't recognize the song, which isn't weird for me as I'm not up to date on anything pop culture despite being free for three years.

I spend the time we're eating just watching people, seeing how they act.

Bruce is quieter and more anxious, which doesn't surprise me because I remember him and what it was like during his time in the facility. Thor is the most outgoing out his siblings, making friends with almost everyone while Hela (Loki hasn't come down yet) sits in the corner away from everyone else, covered nearly head to toe in a fabric I don't recognize. T'Challa is also quiet, but not because of nerves, more like he's quiet out of respect and maybe even because he's secretly annoyed? 

There are a few more I study in between bites, like Hope and Brunnhilde, both of which I wouldn't mind talking to, before I'm interrupted by a loud knock at the door.

The music turns down, and I'm able to physically see both Bruce and Bucky flinch, looking as if they were ready to run at any moment.

Tony looks around, going over to the front door and looking out the little peephole. He relaxes a bit, opening the door after unlocking the four locks.

He greets whoever is there, stepping aside so they can come in.

It's three women, all with brunette hair. Two of them are holdings hands, while the other has a backpack.

One of them smiles, waving at everyone.

"Hi!"

No one knows what to say back, not expecting this turn of events to happen.


	5. Tony's POV

"Who are you?" Stephen asked, a edge to his voice.

One of the women smile, "my name is Angie, this is my wife Peggy and we...sorta just picked this one up a few hours ago, said she got the message as well and that her name is Sif."

Peggy steps up, "I apologize if we are late, we were...held up." 

"Are you guys mutants?" Steve asks suspiciously, and the three nod. 

"Proof?" Scott says, which causes Hope to hit him.

"Scott that's rude!" She whispers angrily, and Scott rubs his arm where Hope had hit it.

"We had to show our abilties why can't they?" He asks, and Hope rolls her eyes, but doesn't reply.

Angie smiles, "oh I don't mind showing my abilties, though it might be easier outside." 

We all look at each other, but I follow her outside after a few moments, slowly everyone else does too.

Stephen stands by me, Peter in front of us as we watch Angie sit down in the grass silently. Peggy smirks, watching her wife as we stare in confusion.

Suddenly, I see a few animals come out of the forests.

Rabbits, mice, deer, even a wolf walks out, going over to Angie without fear of her or us. 

Her smile grows, and she reaches down to pet a few of them, allowing the wolf to curl up next to her as she scratches it's belly.

"She can manipulate animals and feel their pain," Peggy explains, staring at her wife fondly, "as well as mimic voices and a persons mannerisms, but as she's distracted I doubt she'll show you right now."

We look over to see Angie playing with the animals, a few of them bring her sticks, flowers, rocks, or fruit from our fruit trees, obviously in her own happy world.

Peggy chuckles, "my turn."

Her eyes suddenly turn red, and a flame appears in her hand, touching her skin but not burning her. It grows bigger until it's nearly ten feet high and I can feel it burning me, this makes Angie look up and for all the animals to walk away calmly, not afriad by the fire (though I do think that is Angie's doing) as Angie stands and walks over to her wife.

Peggy smiles at her, making the fire into a small ball and throwing it into the air, running off and catching it, having to flip into the air to do that.

"Superhuman reflexes and agility, as well as pyrokinesis," Angie explains as Peggy walks back, no fire in sight.

The last girl, Sif, steps up, dropping her backpack into the grass. She cracks her fingers, taking a few steps back before running at the wall, jumping and starting her way up. Peter's eyes widen at finding another person who can do that, and he begins bouncing in excitement as we watch.

She reaches the top of our house, looking down at all of us before teleporting in front of us for a moment before teleporting again. We look around, finding her behind us, staring at the trees. Suddenly she rasies her hands, and two trees raise from the ground, roots and all. She puts them back carefully, Stephen cringing slightly at the ground, which doesn't look nearly as good as before. She then raising her hands above her head slowly, a portion of the earth lifting up with her on it.

We watch in shock as she gently sets it down, a small meadow of flowers going in that area once it's back in place. She picks one of the flowers, walking over and handing it to Brunnhilde, who raises a eyebrow but takes the flower anyways, a small smirk on her face.

I clear my throat, "well I think that's good enough proof, how about I show you your rooms?" The three women nod, following me into the house as Stephen directs everyone else to finish their breakfast.

"This house is beautiful, who made it?" Angie asks as we travel up the elevator, and I smile.

"Thank you, Stephen and I have been building it for a few years now, we get some help for plumbing and things like that, but most of it was the two of us and Peter," I explain, stepping off at the fourth floor.

"This can be Angie and Peggy's room, you can set your bags down and come back downstairs or finish unpacking, whatever would be more comforable for you two," I say, and they nod, Angie smiling in thanks and Peggy nodding.

I lead Sif down to the next empty room, "and this will be yours, does it look okay?"

She nods, "yes, it looks great, thank you...Tony was it?" She asks, and I nod.

"Yes ma'am, Tony Stark-Strange at your service, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask me or Stephen." She smiles lightly and nods, a slient dismissal that I take as my cue to leave.

"Are they settled?" Stephen asks when I get back downstairs, him finally eating his own breakfast instead of cooking for everyone else. Peter is on the otherside of the room, talking happily with Shuri and Loki, who finally came downstairs.

"Yeah." I gently grab his hands, still shaking and heavily scarred despite all the magic he's tried to get them to heal, kissing each of his fingers and palms, which makes his roll his eyes. "You've done amazing, thank you for helping me, I know this isn't what you originally wanted," I whisper, and he chuckles.

"It turned out better than I could have imagined, Tony." I smile, leaning my head on his shoulder as he continues to eat.

"What if this fails? What if they find them? Find us? Find _Peter_?" I ask aloud, mind running through the worst case scenarios.

Stephen leans his head on mine, "Peter isn't nine anymore, he knows how to protect himself, and his dads are strong enough to protect him if he can't," he pauses for a second, taking a deep breath, "and besides, I'm pretty sure most of the people in here have seen hell and would fight like their lives depended on it."

I nod, closing my eyes for a moment to try and calm my mind, "I just don't want to be the reason anyone is hurt."

I feel him kiss the top of my head, "you won't be, nothing is going to happen to anyone in here...and I would destroy the entire world before I allowed anything to happen to you or Peter."

The rest of the day was calm.

Everyone was still on edge, not trusting most people and instead having small discussions with people they are comforable with.

Sif fitted right in with the Norse siblings and their friends, while Peggy and Angie became quick friends with Steve, Bucky, Sam, Clint, and Natasha.

Peter talked with Shuri and Loki most of the day, though he was able to hold a long conversation with Bruce about physics and chemistry around noon, one of the first people to talk to Bruce for longer than five minutes at a time.

"Alright, it's time for a team building exercise," I say loudly, everyone turning to look at me from their respective conversation.

"Team building exercise?" Stephen asks mid water sip, and I nod standing up from my chair.

"Yes, everyone get into a sitting circle either on the floor or in the chairs, if we're gonna help mutants and the rest of the world we need to first trust each other more, so chop chop everyone." Everyone looks confused, but they do move into a circle. I sit in between Stephen and Peter, looking around at everyone. "Here's how this is going to work, everyone is going to ask each other questions, either a general one or a personal question, whichever the other person feels comforable answering," I explain, and everyone nods after a moment of thinking it over.

"If you ask a question and the person feels uncomforable answering, think of a new question please, everyone understand?" I get a few verbal 'yes's and a few nods, which is good enough for me. "Okay, who would like to start?" No one rasies their hand, which I expected.

"Fine, I can go first, Bruce?" Bruce tenses, but looks over at me, "would you like a general or personal question?" I already know which one it will be, and since I want him to feel more comforable I chose a simple question.

"General?" He says, and I nod.

"Favortie color?" I ask him, and his eyes widen just a bit in shock, probably expecting a more in-depth question.

"I like purple," he answers, looking a bit relieved, which is good.

"Now you ask a question to anyone you want," I explain since I missed it in the original rules, and he smiles lightly, exhaling after taking a deep breath.

"Peter, general or personal?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the game will be next chapter, and welcome Peggy, Angie, and Sif to the household!!


End file.
